The Rise Of Wanheda.

Chapter 9: Captured.

He came out of nowhere, grabbing me from behind, his blade to my throat. It would seem this bounty hunter from earlier that evening had seen through Niylah's lie and waited for me to leave the trading post. He'd bound and gagged me under threats of slicing my throat if I retaliated. I was now his prisoner. No words were uttered to me as he led me through the woods under the dark of night. I felt such sorrow at having my freedom snatched away this way. All I wanted was to be left alone, for the world to forget about me, to live out my days in peace.
By the morning we had reached the river, my destination was still unknown to me. It was here I made an attempt  to escape. Unfortunately, my plan failed. The bounty hunter gained the upper hand as I attacked him,  almost drowning me in the river. I saw the red dye consume the water around me as it washed out of my hair revealing my blonde locks. Loosing this part of my new identity made me feel so vulnerable as did the scars I saw upon the bounty hunters face. He was Ice Nation.
Panic filled my heart, thoughts of being taken to meet my death at the hands of the Ice Queen overwhelmed me. I didn't want it to end this way, on my knees in front of the power hungry Queen of Azgeda as she delivered me to the afterlife. This power The Grounders seemed to think I held being used for an excuse for war.

It wasn't until we we confronted by three other Azgeda scouts did I question who the bounty hunter was working for. He'd killed all three of them in an instant when they attempted to apprehend me. This rogue Ice Nation grounder seem to have a different destination in mind, this fear of the unknown was almost  worst that knowing my fate.
I knew the only reason I was still alive was due to whoever had sent this bounty hunter to find me. Even after my second attempt to escape, by stabbing him with a blade I'd obtained  from one of the dead Ice Nation scouts, there were  no repercussions. Whoever he was taking me to wanted me alive, that was at least a blessing given my current situation, but a curse not knowing who I was being led to and why.

We'd eventually made our way underground to the ruins of an old subway station. I sat bound to a post as the Ice Nation bounty hunter used fire and steel to fix the stab wound I gave him. It was clear he was no stranger to battle as his body was full of scars. From what I could tell he had a complicated history with his clan and was using me somehow, to bargain his way back out of this banishment he seemed to be under. The power of Wanheda held value and was now  solidified in the world of Grounder politics. I wanted was to be free from such complications, but it seemed that fate had a very different plan for me, one that was out of my control.

The bounty hunter had eventually left me bound in that old subway to check that our path out of the woods was clear. I tried to loosen the restraints but they were so tight it just tore at my flesh. The chance for any further escape was fading fast, that was until hope found me once more. Out of nowhere Bellamy approached. He had somehow managed to track me down, but as happy as I was to see him, I knew his life was severely at risk. I couldn't loose another person I cared about.
Just as soon as he began to untie me, he was knocked to the ground by the Azgeda grounder. I begged and I pleaded for Bellamy to be spared, expressing that I would not longer fight my situation. I would not be the reason for Bellamys death, I couldn't live with the weight of that responsibility, of that grief. The bounty hunter honoured my pleas, but not before stabbing him in the leg and knocking him unconscious. I had no time to check to see how injured he was before being dragged back into the light of day. My heart was full of anguish for the man who I had said goodbye to all those months ago.
Nothing but hurt and pain seemed to follow me, constantly effecting those I cared about, my friends and family. I wished Bellamy had stayed away, that he and Skaikru had forgotten about me. They should have left me behind after I turned my back on them. The bounty hunter was right I abandoned my clan, maybe I deserved no mercy.